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By Sam Francis
Political reporter, BBC News
A UK ban on selling arms to Israel would only strengthen Hamas, the foreign secretary has told the BBC.
Lord Cameron said while he would not support a major ground offensive in the Gazan city of Rafah, the UK would not copy US plans to stop some arms sales.
He said the UK supplies just 1% of Israel's weapons and warned Israel must do more to protect civilians and allow humanitarian aid through.
Labour's Jonathan Ashworth said he did not want UK-made arms used in Rafah.
This week US President Joe Biden upended part of one of the world's most significant strategic relationships by saying the US are "not supplying the weapons " if Israel went ahead with a planned invasion of Rafah - the southern Gazan city where about 1.4 million people have been sheltering.
The UN says more than 80,000 people have fled Rafah since Monday, with Israeli tanks reportedly massed close to built-up areas.
Israel has said it will proceed with planned operations in Rafah despite the US and other allies warning that a ground offensive could lead to mass civilian casualties and a humanitarian crisis.
Its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has pledged to eliminate Hamas battalions he claims are based in Rafah.
EPA
Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Lord Cameron said he would not support a full-scale offensive on Rafah until he saw Israel's "plan to protect people".
But he argued the US, which he called "a massive state supplier of weaponry", is in "a totally different position" to the UK.
The UK government does not directly sell arms to Israel but grants licenses to weapons companies based on legal advice. In contrast, the US uses a less restrictive government-to-government deals to sell arms.
Lord Cameron said the last time he was urged to end weapons sales to Israel, when three Britons were killed in an air strike on aid workers in Gaza, "a few days later there was a brutal attack by Iran on Israel".
"Just to simply announce today that we will change our approach on arms exports, it would make Hamas stronger and it would make a hostage deal less likely," he adds.
He said he wanted instead to focus on "hammering away every day" on getting humanitarian aid into Gaza.
On Friday, the US State Department released an investigation which found Israel may have used American-supplied weapons in breach of international humanitarian law during the war in Gaza.
Pressed on whether he agreed with the findings, Lord Cameron said Israel's "performance is not good enough", arguing "Israel has not had a clean bill of health" on allowing humanitarian aid into the country.
But the UK "has a different approach" and Lord Cameron said he was "not really interested in message sending" through political moves like ending weapons sales.
Lord Cameron said: "I'm interested in what can we do to maximise the British pressure and the outcome that will help people in their lives - including getting the hostages, including British nationals, released."
He dismissed the idea of British boots on the ground in Gaza, saying it was "a risk that we should not take".
It comes after the BBC last month reported the government was considering sending British troops into Gaza to help deliver aid via a new sea route.
'Aiding war crimes'
Labour MP Zarah Sultana accused the government of not following its own rules by supplying weapons to Israel.
The government's Strategic Export Licensing Criteria prevents weapons sales "if there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law".
Ms Sultana said the scale of arms sales to Israel "does not matter".
"We are aiding and abetting what are war crimes happening on a daily basis" she told the BBC.
Labour's position on Gaza has shifted since the 7 October Hamas attacks, in which 252 people were kidnapped and about 1,200 killed, sparked a full-blown Israeli military operation in the area.
Since then more than 35,000 people have been killed and 78,000 others wounded in Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
Last year, 10 Labour frontbenchers quit over the party's failure to call for a ceasefire in Gaza as it instead backed a "humanitarian pause" to allow aid to flood into the country.
Police were called to Burnt Oak Broadway at about 11:50 BST on Thursday. Ms Mukhey was treated for knife wounds but died at the scene.
In footage seen by the PA news agency, people could be seen rushing to her aid in the moment after the incident.
The Metropolitan Police urged people not to share the "enormously distressing" footage online.
On Saturday, in a post on X, formerly Twitter, a police spokesman said: "A small number of social media users have posted graphic footage of the attack.
"It is enormously distressing for grieving families.
"We ask that these posts are deleted and others not to share them."
The Met Police previously said the attack was an "isolated incident" and no further suspects were being sought.
Thunderstorms are set to strike across large parts of the UK this afternoon - with a warning that flooding in some places could cause "danger to life".
The Met Office has issued a number of yellow weather alerts across the country, which look set to bring Britain's warm spell to an end.
Not everyone within the warning areas will see a thunderstorm, but are still being advised to prepare for the adverse weather.
Western and central Northern Ireland is the first to be hit, with the anticipated heavy showers and thunderstorms from 12pm expected to lead to difficult driving conditions, power cuts and flooding.
From 1pm, thunderstorms will sweep in across parts of Wales and western and central England.
Image:The Met Office's yellow weather warnings for Sunday. Pic: Met Office
The Met Office has warned: "Flooding of homes and businesses could happen quickly, with damage to some buildings from floodwater, lightning strikes, hail or strong winds.
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"Fast flowing or deep floodwater is possible, causing a danger to life."
From 2pm, the storms will hit Scotland. The yellow weather alert stretches from southern Scotland up to the Central Belt as well as the Highlands and Islands.
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The Met Office has warned Scots: "There is a small chance of fast flowing or deep floodwater causing danger to life."
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The thunderstorms could bring the UK's warm spell to a dramatic end - after Saturday was confirmed as the hottest day of the year.
Sky News weather producer Joanna Robinson said: "A thundery breakdown is expected on Sunday afternoon, but many eastern parts of Britain will stay fine and dry.
"The Met Office has issued several thunderstorm warnings, which highlight the areas at risk of severe weather.
"It's important to note that not everywhere within the warning area will catch a thunderstorm.
"Where they do occur, they could bring torrential rain, large hail up to 2cm, gusty winds and frequent lightning, with localised disruption possible.
"It'll be another warm afternoon for most, with 27C or 28C possible somewhere in southeast England.
"That would be the UK's highest temperature of the year so far, beating Saturday's 25.9C at Herstmonceux.
"Next week looks cooler and more unsettled, but there'll be some pleasant sunshine at times."
Before the thunderstorm: • Lightning can cause power surges, so unplug any non-essential appliances if not already using a surge protector. • Seek shelter if possible. When you hear thunder you are already within range of where the next ground flash may occur. Lightning can strike as far as 10 miles away from the centre of a storm.
During the thunderstorm: • Telephone lines can conduct electricity so try to avoid using the landline, unless in an emergency. • If outside, avoid water and find a low-lying open place that is a safe distance from trees, poles or metal objects. • Be aware of metal objects that can conduct or attract lightning, including golf clubs, golf buggies, fishing rods, umbrellas, motorbikes, bicycles, wheelchairs, mobility scooters, pushchairs, wire fencing and rails. If you are in a tent, try to stay away from the metal poles. • If you find yourself in an exposed location, it may be advisable to squat close to the ground with your hands on your knees and your head tucked between them. Try to touch as little of the ground with your body as possible. Do not lie down on the ground. •If you feel your hair stand on end, drop to the above position immediately.
After the thunderstorm: • Avoid downed power lines or broken cables. •If someone is struck by lightning, they often suffer severe burns. The strike also affects the heart, so check if they have a pulse.
Driving in a thunderstorm: • If you are caught out in thunder and lightning, it is advised that you wind up the windows and stay inside your car. In the vast majority of cars with a metal roof and frame, the frame will act as a conductive Faraday cage, passing the current around the passengers inside and on to the ground. • Soft-top convertibles, with their fabric roofs, are the most at risk and could catch fire if struck by lightning. • Be aware that current can travel through other parts of many modern cars, including GPS and radio systems. Cars with metal interior handles, foot pedals and steering wheels can also carry current. • Cars can be damaged both internally and externally by lightning strikes. • Thunderstorms can also bring a risk of sudden gusty winds. Those most at risk would include cyclists, motorcyclists and high-sided vehicles. • Remember to give vulnerable road users including cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians more room than usual. • Keep your speed down. Lowering your speed will lower the distance you travel when buffeted around by the wind. • Hailstorms can be extremely dangerous to drive in - reducing your ability to see and be seen, as well as causing damage to your vehicle. If hail is severe, stop and pull over to a safe place and remain inside the vehicle.
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An increasing number of drivers are “ignoring” an official diversion around the M25 motorway closure, highway bosses have said.
London’s orbital motorway, the busiest in the UK, is closed this weekend between Junctions 9 and 10 for maintenance work.
National Highways said it was “good progress” on installing a new gantry and a new gyratory bridge on a section of the motorway.
“Coming off at junction 9 means non-freight drivers will end up travelling behind or alongside HGVs which is something we are actively trying to avoid and is likely to have a negative impact on travel times, congestion and the communities they pass through,” Simon Elliott, National Highways senior project manager, said as he urged motorists to use the official diversion route.
Junctions 9 and 10 in Surrey closed at 9pm on Friday and won’t reopen until 5.30am on Monday.
Diversion routes take cars on a 19-mile journey on A roads, crossing from Surrey into London’s Ulez area, though National Highways has assured drivers “no enforcement action will be taken” if the follow official routes
National Highways urges motorists to follow diversion
National Highways has issued a fresh plea for drivers on the M25 motorway to use an official diversion route to avoid maintenance work between Junctions 9 and 10.
“#M25 #Surrey remains closed in both directions between J9 #Leatherhead & J10 #Wisley for planned works until 05:30 - 13/05, work is progressing well,” it said in a post on X.
“Please follow the official diversion routes to manage traffic flow effectively.”
An increasing number of drivers are “ignoring” an official diversion route around the M25 motorway closure, highways bosses have said.
London’s orbital motorway, one of the busiest in the country, is closed this weekend between Junctions 9 and 10 for maintenance work.
National Highways say they are making "good progress" to install a new gantry and a new gyratory bridge on the motorway.
“Coming off at junction 9 means non-freight drivers will end up travelling behind or alongside HGVs which is something we are actively trying to avoid and is likely to have a negative impact on travel times, congestion and the communities they pass through,” Simon Elliott, National Highways senior project manager, said as he urged motorists to use the official diversion route.
Watch: Drone footage captures scale of M25 closure as new bridge beams installed
Drone footage has captured the sheer scale of this weekend’s M25 closure as new bridge beams are installed.
The motorway – which is Britain’s busiest – will be closed in both directions between junctions 9 and 10 in Surrey from 9pm on Friday (10 May) until 6am on Monday (13 May) while concrete beams for a new bridge are installed.
Diversion routes will take cars on a 19-mile journey on A roads, crossing from Surrey into London’s Ulez area, though National Highways has assured drivers “no enforcement action will be taken”.
ICYMI: Drivers warned over Ulez charges if they ignore diversions
National Highways said anyone ignoring diversion signs in an attempt to find shorter alternative routes will be liable for the £12.50 daily Ulez fee if their vehicle does not meet minimum emissions standards.
National Highways says it is necessary for “the installation of a bridge and gantry” as part of a £317 million project to improve junction 10 – which handles 300,000 motorists per day.
“Our improvements will reduce congestion, create a smoother flow of traffic and provide safer journeys for thousands every day,” National Highways says.
The organisation is promising:
A larger roundabout with extra lanes to increase capacity.
Free flow left turns at all four corners of the junction.
New and safer routes for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders.
Improvements to the local environment and wildlife.
Truck stop: the key interchange on the M25 closure diversion, at Tolworth in southwest London (Simon Calder)
The 19-mile diversion route saw an “unusually low volume of traffic”, with residents and local businesses reporting quiet roads and reduced footfall in their towns and villages.
Councillor Rod Ashford from the Reigate and Banstead Borough Council told the PA news agency that, at around 5pm, traffic around junction 8, where the diversion route starts, was “free-flowing with an unusually low volume of traffic”.
He added: “Given the A217 would be a route to divert M25 traffic to Epsom and around (to the) M25 junction 9, traffic in my area is quiet.”
Meanwhile, in Epsom, a town on the diversion route, workers at Blacks Burgers told the PA news agency there had been a “downturn in business and walk-in trade” compared to last weekend and corresponding with the road closure, whilst the area in general seemed quieter.
National Highways previously urged drivers to only travel the route if necessary, to avoid the closure and to complete their journeys in other ways if possible.
The M25 closure is the second of five planned weekend closures which come as part of a £317 million project to improve junction 10.
National Highways said they had seen an increasing number of motorists choosing to ignore the diversion route, starting at junction 8, and instead continuing on the motorway to the next junction.
Simon Elliott, National Highways senior project manager, said it was “important that drivers follow the diversion route in place”.
He said in a statement: “It is the most effective way for people travelling clockwise along the M25 to reach their destination and will help keep traffic moving as well as possible during this weekend’s closure.
“Coming off at junction 9 means non-freight drivers will end up travelling behind or alongside HGVs which is something we are actively trying to avoid and is likely to have a negative impact on travel times, congestion and the communities they pass through.”
On a sunny Friday morning on the Kent coast, Keir Starmer held a press conference that would have been beyond the wildest dreams of Labour’s most senior strategists just a few weeks ago. Entering the small room near Deal alongside the Labour leader were his shadow home secretary, the prospective Labour candidate for the seat, and Natalie Elphicke, the rightwing former Tory MP for Dover who had shocked Westminster two days earlier by defecting to Labour. Along with the others, she delivered the dream line for Starmer’s team: the Tories were “failing to keep our borders safe and secure”.
Here, seemingly, were the right and left of the political establishment uniting to conclude that, even on the issue of immigration that has caused such strife for Labour throughout the decades, this was the party with a plan. After a thumping set of local election wins, Labour was mopping up an area and a topic the Tories had previously believed was one of their strongest suits.
There was no sign, however, of instant cut-through to the dog walkers and shoppers in Dover on Friday, as Starmer delivered his speech on border security down the road. There was a general disillusionment with politics, with politicians described variously as “a load of tosspots” and “all the same” with regularity. Another declined to comment because “you’d have to bleep out every word”. Several others were annoyed about the fact that, having chosen a Tory MP, they had no say over her decision to switch.
Despite Labour’s political coup, some were unconvinced by the extraordinary adoption of an MP who had been seen as more likely to defect to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK than Starmer’s Labour. “[The Tories] can keep her,” said John O’Neill, 68, out for a walk on a sunny morning.
“She’s done nothing at all for Dover. Moving across now – I don’t know what is in it for her, really. But it’s a shame Keir has done it, because I support Labour and I will support Labour but I think it’s a wrong move.
“Put it this way, I think she’s slightly to the right of Genghis Khan. Neil Kinnock said Labour is a broad church, but it has walls. There are limits. And I think they should have looked at those limits.”
If constituents had mixed views, then some local Labour figures certainly didn’t. “Natalie Elphicke is a toxic, divisive figure who has no place in the Labour party,” was the view of Bridget Chapman, a councillor in nearby Folkestone. She added that she had received messages from people “horrified at the decision”. Folkestone and Hythe Labour party drew up a statement declaring it was “shocked and appalled” by Elphicke’s admission. It even called on counterparts in Dover and Deal to apply to Labour’s ruling body to have Elphicke’s membership application rejected. Campaigning should be interesting over the summer.
Labour MPs are wondering if they will have to clap Elphicke at the next meeting of the parliamentary party, as is usually the case with new arrivals. “Slow-clapped is more probable,” said one MP.
When Elphicke entered the House of Commons at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday and sat directly behind Starmer on the opposition benches, only a handful of Labour figures had been told of the defection in advance.
Like that of Dan Poulter from Tory to Labour 10 days before, it had been kept the tightest of secrets. When Starmer got up to speak, he first welcomed the new Labour MP for Blackpool South, Chris Webb, who won the seat off the Tories in the recent byelection. Then he announced the defection of Elphicke to a disbelieving House. “May I also warmly welcome the new Labour MP, my hon friend the member for Dover, to these benches?”
As MPs tried to work out what on earth was going on, he added: “If one week a Tory MP who is also a doctor says that the prime minister cannot be trusted with the NHS and joins Labour, and the next week the Tory MP for Dover – on the frontline of the small boats crisis – says that the prime minister ‘cannot be trusted’ with our borders and joins Labour, what is the point of this failed government staggering on?” The reaction was one of confusion and disbelief across all parties. Poulter’s defection had made some political sense and had a logic to it. He had been uncomfortable in a Tory party that was moving to the right. But Elphicke was the reverse. She was as rightwing as they came and yet had joined Labour.
“If you had told me she was going anywhere, it would never in a million years have been to Labour,” said one Tory former colleague. “Bloody baffling.”
Disbelief among Tories was matched by anger on the Labour side. No Labour MPs believed that Elphicke had truly converted to the “centre ground” politics of Labour under Starmer. There had to be another reason.
Many Labour MPs were incensed that they were now sitting on the same benches as someone who had defended her ex-husband, Charlie Elphicke, after he was convicted of sexually assaulting two women, and was then sent to prison. Some sensed an arrogance at what they believed was a decision by a “small group of clever men at the top of the party” to admit Elphicke. One influential figure said it “gives the absolute lie” to the idea that the party was serious about tackling attitudes towards sexual harassment.
Jess Phillips, the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley and former shadow minister for domestic violence, said she was shocked by the defection and that Elphicke should apologise for her comments, which would have been “very painful” to her ex-husband’s victims. Elphicke duly did so as Labour, not the Tories, seemed to be suffering the fallout from the defection. “I have previously, and do, condemn his behaviour towards other women and towards me,” said Elphicke as everyone wondered if the coup was turning into disaster for Starmer. “It was right that he was prosecuted and I’m sorry for the comments that I made about his victims.”
The Tories were milking Labour’s discomfort. One former cabinet minister said: “Natalie has earned her place in history by being the only defector ever to cause more embarrassment to the party she defected to than to the one she left.”
The Tory machine went into overdrive to undermine her credibility in every way it could. A very senior Tory described her as “utterly ghastly” in almost every respect. Rumours were spread around that she was in fact still in a relationship with her ex-husband, despite her apology for defending him, and despite having divorced him. She told Saturday’s Daily Telegraph that all such suggestions were completely false: “I am not in a relationship with Charlie Elphicke and I am long divorced from him.”
But around Starmer they held the line. The leader’s team is of the view that outside Westminster, people will take one clear message away from the defection above everything else: that Labour is for everyone.
They want more defections, as many as they can get. There are said to be “active talks” going on with at least two more Conservative MPs who are thinking of switching in the reasonably near future. “Sometimes these things happen; sometimes they come to nothing,” said one senior Labour figure in the know, adding: “What we are now showing is that we are not just the party of the many not the few; we are the party for everyone.”
Another figure on the front bench expressed dismay at those who had the temerity to doubt the leader’s embrace of an ex-Conservative right winger: “Who are these people who think we shouldn’t want a Tory MP to join the Labour party?
“If you start setting limits on who you allow in, you set limits in the voters’ minds about the voters we want. It’s the actual MP for Dover saying we have a better plan for small boats.”
But did this mean there were no limits? “I suppose if Jacob Rees-Mogg wants to join we’d have to think about it … Actually, we wouldn’t take Liz Truss,” said a Starmer loyalist.
Outside Westminster, the ins and outs of the Elphicke controversy seemed of limited interest, and in Dover there was a weariness in general about politicians who claimed to have answers on issues such as immigration. “I don’t know how they’re going to stop it,” said Steven Griffiths, 67. “To be honest, I don’t think they ever will. Labour’s the same. They’re all the same.”
Starmer’s team can be encouraged, however, by the reaction of Linda Godden, out with her mother in Dover town centre. This is a seat that Natalie Elphicke held at the 2019 general election with a majority of 12,278. Labour now has it in its sights. “From Boris and his parties onwards, I’ve become disillusioned with the lot of them,” said Godden, before adding on Starmer: “He seems all right. I mean, give him a chance. See how it goes.”
We're now hearing from the panel before this week's programme wraps up.
Writer and former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown, who often shares her expertise on the Royal Family, is speaking about Prince Harry.
"After all the trashing of Harry, when I saw him and Meghan in Nigeria this week, I had a nostalgia. This is what could have been, these two, who are enormously appealing to the public, looking very attractive," she says.
She thinks that the couple's distance from the Royal Family might be permanent.
"But I think we needed Harry and Meghan and unfortunately what's come to pass with the cancer diagnosis shows how depleted the family is and I hope it does mend," she concludes.
We'll be bringing you some more lines from the show and reflect on what we heard this morning, so stay with us.
